


up up down down left right left right b a start

by pirateygoodness



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Awkward Romance, Background Zarlie - Freeform, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Gamer AU - Freeform, Gamer Kara Danvers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:35:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26161219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pirateygoodness/pseuds/pirateygoodness
Summary: These are the things Kara knows about Andrea: she likes gaming almost as much as Kara does. Her favourite kind of pizza is anything that includes olives, but failing that, fresh mozzarella and basil from this place in Italy she once visited. She wears t-shirts and jeans like her body was the body that t-shirts and jeans were made for; Kara can't stop staring. She is - briefly, allegedly, and they only had 10 minutes to play so it barely counts - better than Kara atZombie Apocalypse 5. Her first video game love isMario Kart. She laughs at Kara's jokes.Kara knows all of this and it's only been a few hours.(gamer au: kara and andrea meet cute at a gaming con and things escalate from there)
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Zari Tomaz | Zari Tarazi, Kara Danvers/Andrea Rojas
Comments: 31
Kudos: 194





	1. i used to be an adventurer (then i took an arrow in the knee)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to @falsealarm who listened to me talk about this AU for literally months and was extremely supportive and patient.
> 
> Title is an old fashioned video game reference and _also_ an excellent Ataris song.
> 
> (Also if you're trying to plan your reading, the first two chapters of this fic are basically rated T and the last is Very Explicit.)

They bump into each other for the first time - literally - at GamerCon. Right between the giant booth selling t-shirts and the handmade plush octopus lady, Kara trips over her own feet. She counterbalances, catches herself in time but her arm reaches out to the nearest bystander, makes contact with their arm in a movement somewhere between grabbing them and hitting them. 

"Sorry," Kara says, as she finds her balance and looks up to face the stranger.

"Are you alright?" the woman asks. She looks familiar; Kara's seen her somewhere before. She's also really, _really_ pretty, and she's being really chill about the fact that Kara nearly - accidentally - bodychecked her into a crowd of video game nerds. 

It's a lot. 

"Yeah," Kara says. "Yeah, I'm -"

Before she can say what she is, the woman's brow furrows. "Hey, you're Lena's friend, right?" 

Kara can feel her cheeks going hot, a blush creeping up from her chest. She rubs the back of her neck and looks away. _Acquaintance with extremely occasional benefits_ is probably a better way to describe them these days, but she doesn't know how to explain that to a near-stranger. Let alone a near stranger this attractive. "Sort of, yeah." 

The woman sticks out her hand - soft, manicured, nails filed short and painted a glossy burgundy. Kara takes it, and tries not to think too many inappropriate thoughts about her fingers. "I'm Andrea," the woman says. 

"Kara," Kara says back. She's still a little awestruck, her tongue a little clumsy in her mouth as she says, "Have we met? Because I feel like I'd remember meeting someone like you." 

Kara's aiming for casually charming, but her nerves get the better of her and it comes out sounding a little more awkward than she'd initially meant. She covers by shoving her hands into her back pockets, smiles in a way she hopes is disarming. 

The line lands, and Andrea's lips purse, the universal expression to shut down a terrible pun. But before Kara has time to feel disappointed, Andrea's expression shifts into a slow, reluctant smile. "Well played," Andrea says. There's the softest edge of an accent as she speaks, and Kara's so - look, she's easy. She's always been easy when people are this pretty. She would happily listen to Andrea read the phone book. 

(But maybe that's dated; Kara's not sure if actual phone books even exist anymore. A takeout menu, then. Kara just wants to lie on her back and listen to Andrea read the Chinese takeout menu to her, real slow.) 

"Weren't you at Lena's birthday party?" 

Kara keeps herself from making a face, but just barely. She remembers that party. Remembers going with high hopes, expecting beer and pizza and Mario Kart and leaving after enduring an hour or two of rich nerdtrepreneurs politely drinking wine. "I was, yeah." 

"That's why you look familiar!" When Andrea smiles, her eyes crinkle in the sweetest way. "I don't think we spoke, but I never forget a face." 

"Well, I'm glad you don't." Kara says. "So, if you're Lena's friend, what are you doing. . .here."   
She gestures, her hand sweeping around to encompass all of - this. The custom keyboard and mouse sales, the booth selling "ergonomic" mousepads with anime girls printed on them so that the wrist cushion is also breasts, the hardcore gamers lining up for the latest game demos. It just doesn't seem like a friends-of-Lena-Luthor type of place. "Oh gosh, you own one of the game companies, don't you." 

Andrea laughs. Her voice is warm. Not warm temperature-wise, but - comforting-warm. Kara wants to curl up inside Andrea's laugh. She's just so _attractive_ ; it's not fair. "Would you believe that I'm here on my own time?" 

Kara rolls her eyes. "I've met Lena's friends," she says, teasing. "They don't have free time." 

Andrea lifts a finger to her lips, purses them in a shushing motion. It's a miracle that Kara doesn't faint. She's too into this woman, she's _way_ too into her but everything about her is just so - Disney princess. Kara's pretty sure a flock of singing birds helped Andrea with her ponytail this morning. "Sometimes, on the weekends, I don't work. It's my deepest, darkest secret." Andrea's voice is a stage whisper; the sound of it makes Kara shiver. 

Kara puts a hand over her heart, and winks in reply. Andrea's eyes flick down, just for a moment, following the gesture. "I'll take it to my grave," Kara says. 

Her joke does something to the air between them, softens it so that they can both relax. Andrea takes a step closer, into Kara's personal space. "So, what are you here to see?" Andrea asks. 

Kara shrugs. "Just here for the atmosphere," she says. "But I was hoping I could catch a demo of _Zombie Apocalypse 5._ " 

Andrea gasps with delight. She takes Kara by the arm, loops her elbow in around Kara's bicep and suddenly they're connected. She smells so good. Kara can't stop noticing how good she smells. "Oh, Kara," Andrea says, leaning in so that the end of her ponytail brushes across Kara's shoulder. "We're going to be good friends." 

+

These are the things Kara knows about Andrea: she likes gaming almost as much as Kara does. Her favourite kind of pizza is anything that includes olives, but failing that, fresh mozzarella and basil from this place in Italy she once visited. She wears t-shirts and jeans like her body was the body that t-shirts and jeans were made for; Kara can't stop staring. She is - briefly, allegedly, and they only had 10 minutes to play so it barely counts - better than Kara at _Zombie Apocalypse 5_. Her first video game love is _Mario Kart_. She laughs at Kara's jokes. 

Kara knows all of this and it's only been a few hours. They started walking together and ended up spending the whole afternoon together, and now the convention floor is starting to wind down and they're both lingering. 

Well, Kara is lingering, she knows that for sure. But she's pretty sure Andrea is lingering too. She keeps slowing down as they wander towards the exit, not looking at anything in particular, just - pausing. To say one more thing to Kara. To ask her one more question. Her arm is still looped around Kara's bicep and the contact is warming. Kara's aware of every single sensory input from her shoulder to her wrist, each wrinkle of fabric and minute change in pressure as they walk arm-in-arm together. "This has been lovely," Andrea says. "It's so good to have a friend I can talk to about stuff like this." 

"What, dps rates and loot drops?" 

Andrea rolls her eyes and smiles at the same time. There's this look she gives Kara when she makes jokes like that, now. Something that's not quite reproach for her awful puns and not quite amusement - _fondness._ That's the word. Andrea is fond of Kara, and Kara's awfully fond of her right back. "Yes, among other things."

Andrea's hand is loosely curled around Kara's right bicep and Kara reaches up with her left hand, rests it gently across the top of Andrea's fingers. "I'm happy to be that friend," Kara says. She wants so badly to move Andrea's hand, to slide her grasp down so that their fingers lace together. At the last second she falters and loses her nerve. She settles for patting Andrea's knuckles, instead.

Andrea is smiling at her. They're almost at the exit. Kara has to do something, has to _say something_ but she's too tongue-tied, too soft in the warm glow of Andrea's everything to figure out what that would be. 

"Hey," Andrea says. "What are you doing right now?" 

Kara blinks. "Um, this? Hanging out?"

"No, I mean - what are you doing right after right now?" 

"Nothing?" Kara says. 

"Do you want to, um. I'm hungry. And there's this diner down the street, and I know it's kind of greasy but it's close and if you wanted to, maybe we could -" 

"I love grease," Kara blurts out. It's not really an answer and it definitely doesn't make sense and her heart is fluttering a mile a minute because it sounds an awful lot like Andrea's asking her out and that's so exciting that she's a little worried she might faint. She takes a breath. "That sounds, um. That sounds really good. Yeah." 

"Great," Andrea says. Her smile is so bright, and there's the slightest blush of red to her cheeks and Kara doesn't even know if this is a date or not but she knows that she absolutely wants it to be. "Good. That's - That's so great." 

"Good," Kara echoes. 

"Yeah." 

+

Andrea takes Kara to a diner, the hole-in-the-wall eat-and-get-out kind where there's never a lineup but the tables always seem to be full. The waiter seats them efficiently, in a two-person booth next to the window. 

The table is surprisingly small, enough that when Kara slides into her seat across from Andrea her shoes brush against the toes of Andrea's boots. Andrea ducks her head in response, her cheeks maybe going red - unless that's just the glow from the decorative neon sign above their table. She tucks her feet back beneath her, and Kara feels the absence of contact with an acuteness that surprises her. She wants her shoes to touch against Andrea's shoes, their feet almost-meeting through rubber and canvas and leather. 

The menus are laminated, the font and layout dating them to at least the early 2000s. This is Kara's kind of place. "So," Kara says, lifting her menu from where it's been wedged between the silver napkin holder and the wall. "What's good here?" 

"Milkshakes," Andrea says. "You have to get a milkshake, they're classic and just - ice cream. None of that fancy hipster stuff." 

Kara feels that flutter behind her ribs, a sudden surge of delight. "Yes!" she says. "Like, sometimes I want a slice of pie in my milkshake, fine, but sometimes that slice of pie is covering up a milkshake that's kinda so-so." 

Andrea makes a happy sound in the back of her throat, reaches out to take one of Kara's hands in both of her yes. "Yes! Yes, thank you. I feel exactly the same way." 

"My roommate and I argue about this all the time; she loves that place that makes the milkshakes with the donuts on top -" 

"Oh my god, with the stupid name - Artsy Tartsy, right?"

"Yes! And they're fine, but also she just needs to admit that the reason she likes them so much isn't because they're good, it's because she loves donuts more than she loves milkshakes." 

Andrea brushes her thumb across Kara's knuckles. It feels like an electrical storm, sparks zipping their way up Kara's arm as her whole body makes her aware of the precise angle of Andrea's thumb, the speed of her soft skin sweeping over the ridges of Kara's hand. "You're so cute," Andrea says. 

Kara can't breathe, suddenly. Andrea's looking up at her, eyes big and bright and she's so _interested_ in everything that Kara has to say. This feels like a date. This must be a date, except that she doesn't even know if Andrea dates women and maybe she's just one of those girls that doesn't date women but happens to be beautiful and very touch-affectionate and have Kara's ideal taste in clothes, video games, and food. It's probably nothing. "You're cute, too." Kara says, once she figures out how to make her mouth work again. 

Andrea's cheeks go a little bit pink, Kara's sure of it this time. "So," she says. "It's official. We're getting milkshakes." 

"Definitely," Kara says. "What else?" 

"Cheeseburgers?" Andrea says. "At least - that's my favourite, you don't have to, um. Oh gosh, are you vegetarian? Is this okay?" 

She's overcorrecting, _nervous_ , and it's so charming that Kara can hardly contain herself. "It's perfect," Kara says. "Cheeseburgers and milkshakes. And fries. Definitely fries." 

Andrea smiles. "Are you the kind of person who can share fries? Or should we each get our own." 

Something behind Kara's ribs squeezes, flutters. She's definitely threatened to bite Alex more than once for stealing her fries, but - something about sharing them with Andrea feels alright. Romantic, even. "Sharing is good," Kara says. "If that's okay with you." 

Andrea's hand is still holding Kara's and she squeezes it, in time with a soft smile that crinkles the corners of her eyes. Kara suddenly understands what people mean when they say that someone makes their heart melt. It's this feeling: like her heart is slipping out of her chest, down into her belly and her whole body is melting with it. Like she's going to slide out of the booth and end up a puddle on the floor, liquid from the sheer Andrea-ness of her. "For you?" Andrea says, her voice conspiratorial. "I can learn to be diplomatic." 

Andrea goes to the counter at the front, orders for the both of them. Kara watches as she laughs with the cashier. She talks with her hands. It's adorable. Idly, Kara wonders how she manages to game with voice chat if she talks with her hands that much. 

Kara watches as Andrea pulls out her wallet, pays for the burgers and that's - oh. That's not un-date-like. 

(But she could just be generous. She's one of Lena's friends; that means she's probably got a fancy job and maybe she can afford to just buy lunch for friends like that.)

Kara has her wallet ready when Andrea comes back to the table, sets a little laminated number on a stand between them. Andrea waves it away before Kara can even speak. "My treat," she says. "I insist." 

It's not _not_ a date, and the thought makes Kara's skin buzz with excitement. 

By the time their food arrives, Kara knows four new things about Andrea. One: Andrea's official favourite kind of milkshake is strawberry, but her secret favourite flavour of milkshake is strawberry with chocolate sauce mixed in. Two: she works at BuzzWeb, she started out curating listicles and worked her way up to editing the actual news, but just barely. Her favourite romcom from the mid-1990s is _Titanic._ And, most importantly, when Kara makes Andrea laugh and her smile hits her eyes it's the most beautiful thing Kara's ever seen. 

The server arrives with their food, and Andrea hums in delight. Her milkshake is strawberry; Kara's chocolate. "Okay, you have to tell me what you think of the milkshake first," Andrea says. She's already reaching for a spoon, dipping it delicately into the swirl of definitely-from-a-can whipped topping. Her tongue darts out, laps a first taste from the spoon and Kara's just. It's too _much_ , she has to look away. 

Kara keeps her eyes on the table, pays attention to the glossy red melamine and not Andrea's tongue curling around the spoon or her happy little moan as the first mouthful goes down. 

The milkshake is delicious. Knowing that is a nice surprise. It doesn't do anything to help Kara's real problem, which is that Andrea is extremely attractive and Kara's extremely attracted to her and it's just - a lot to handle. "Good?" Andrea asks. 

She's watching Kara, making eye contact that flicks down to the place where Kara's mouth is connected with her straw. "Um," Kara says, the straw still in her mouth. She has to make a conscious effort to release it. "Good. So good. Do you want some?" 

Andrea nods. She's already pulling Kara's glass away, leaning forward to take a sip from Kara's straw. Kara's fine. She feels fine and she's definitely not thinking about how she's going to put her mouth on that straw later and that both of them will have touched it with their lips and how close that is, in a way, to kissing. Andrea closes her eyes as she drinks, her mouth lilting up into a smile around the straw as she hums in delight. 

"Delicious," Andrea says. She's making eye contact with Kara as she speaks. There's a dot of chocolate milkshake resting on her lower lip, and she keeps meeting Kara's eyes as her tongue darts out to catch it. Kara's whole body is buzzing, her skin a little bit electric with how much she likes thinking about Andrea's mouth. 

She's just so - lovely. That's the word. 

She's lovely, and she doesn't stop being lovely as she eats her cheeseburger and starts to tuck into their shared plate of fries. She's lovely when she listens to Kara tell stories about living with Zari and when Kara cracks jokes about the gig economy and makes Andrea laugh. She's lovely when she looks down at her phone, checking the time, and her ponytail swishes forward over her shoulder and then swishes back again as she looks up. She's so lovely that the buzz under Kara's skin never quite goes away, the whole time. 

They linger again after their meal is done, picking at the last few fries and the last sad sips of their milkshakes. It's not really about the food, they just - keep talking. Andrea's so easy to talk to. 

Kara feels like she has so much to say and she wants to say it all, so much that she loses track of time altogether. It's not until her phone buzzes that she really thinks about it: there's a text from Zari, checking in on her. 

_Dude, the con's been over for like three hours. Did you get murdered?_

Kara rolls her eyes at her phone. "Is everything alright?" Andrea asks. 

"It's just my roommate; she wants to know when I'll be home," Kara replies. To Zari, she texts, _met a C U T E girl, eating fries together_ and a half-dozen fireball emojis. 

Zari sends back a thumbs-up, then, _Atta girl. Don't bring her back here, Charlie's over we're going to fuck later._

Kara makes a face at her phone. Charlie is - actually really cool, but they're _so loud_ together and so aggressively in love and it's honestly a little gross. _Gross_ she messages back. 

"What was that face for?" Andrea asks. 

"Oh, Zari just has a new girlfriend, she's very in love," Kara says. "But in that way where it's like - I'm so happy for her, but it's -" 

"A little much?" Andrea offers. 

"Yes," Kara laughs in relief. Andrea just _gets_ her, and it feels so nice to be understood. "Just a little."

"Well," Andrea says. "I should probably let you get going." 

She's not wrong. They spent most of the day at the con together, and now they've stretched getting a quick bite to eat into three hours, at Andrea probably has other things to do. Kara has other things she wanted to do today, herself. But somehow none of that feels important compared to how nice it is to just sit and talk with Andrea. She's just so easy to like, and Kara's so _into_ her. "Yeah," Kara says, because it's the appropriate thing to say. "I bet you have lots of, uh. Stuff to do later." 

Andrea sighs. "I do, unfortunately. My job doesn't seem to understand the concept of weekends." 

Kara holds the door for Andrea as they leave, and Andrea smiles at her, mumbles _thank you_ with a shy smile that makes Kara's heart flutter. "Hey," Kara says. "I had a really amazing time today." 

Andrea's hand goes up to her temple, combs the little flyaway hairs into a bundle and tucks them behind her ear. "Me too," she says. "You're the first person I've met in ages who can talk intelligently about game design without turning into a total tech bro. It was nice spending time with you." 

Kara feels her cheeks heat up. She likes that she's nice to spend time with. "And, um. You as well." 

Something in the air between them shifts. If this were a date, it would be the moment before Kara asked if it would be okay to give Andrea a goodbye kiss. It still sort of feels like that. Andrea's hesitating, not quite ready to go. The sidewalk is busy-but-not-too-busy around them, enough space for them both to speak without getting in the way but crowded enough that if they kissed, casually, it wouldn't be anything remarkable. Kara can't stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss her. 

Andrea inhales with enough force that Kara can hear it over the sound of the city, and steps into Kara's personal space. She wraps both arms around Kara's back and pulls her into a tight hug. Kara's nose presses into the fabric of Andrea's t-shirt and she breathes deep, inhales the smell of her. She smells so good, the best kind of girl-smell filling Kara's senses. It's so intense that Kara almost forgets to hug Andrea back. 

Andrea hugs her for the appropriate amount of time: not too long to be uncomfortable, but long enough to be friendly and intimate. When she moves out of the embrace, it takes effort for Kara to keep from pulling her back in again. She's blushing. Kara's cheeks feel overheated, like she's blushing, too. 

"Anyway, I, um. It was nice to see you, Kara." Andrea's voice is soft, and she's looking at Kara with warm eyes and she's beautiful and Kara wants to kiss her so much. 

"You too," Kara says. "Be safe." 

Andrea walks away first. Kara starts to walk in the opposite direction, but she makes it about fifty feet before she has to stop and lean against a wall, just to catch her breath. Andrea is perfect. Kara pulls out her phone. She wants to text Andrea, ask if maybe they can see each other again and it's too soon to text now but maybe she could just start drafting something, putting her thoughts into words. 

Kara looks at her phone screen, and her stomach sinks. She doesn't have Andrea's number. She was so busy daydreaming about kissing that she forgot to even ask, and Andrea's gone, out of sight and Kara can't believe her own stupid bad luck. "Fuck," she whispers down at her phone screen. " _Fuck._ "


	2. but our princess is in another castle

"She's perfect," Kara says. "I'm so disappointed in myself." 

"What else is new?" Zari says. She's coming to the couch with her dinner, and has yet to be moved by Kara's pain. "Move your legs, I want to sit." 

Kara turns ninety degrees so that her back is resting on the seat of the couch and her knees are draped over the back of it, upside-down. "You don't understand," she says. 

Zari gestures with her plate; Kara takes a slice of pizza off the top of the stack. "I do understand," Zari says, taking her own slice and punctuating her sentences with it as she eats. "You went to GamerCon, you ran into a friend of a friend who also happens to be beautiful and perfect _and_ somehow into the games you like _and_ has a sexy accent and hair that smells like flowers and reminds you of a warm summer day, and you forgot to get her number. Sucks to be you." 

"I'm _pining,_ " Kara says. "You're supposed to support me." 

Zari shrugs. "I mean, you could just text Lena and ask for her number. It's not that hard." 

Kara sighs, and takes a bite of her pizza. "It is that hard. You don't understand me." Zari doesn't dignify that with a reply. That's probably fair, but Kara's really hitting her stride in feeling sorry for herself and feeling misunderstood is an essential part of the process. "Whatever. I don't even know if she likes girls anyway, it probably doesn't matter." 

"Didn't you say she held your hand?" Zari asks. As she speaks, Charlie wanders in from Zari's bedroom. It's after five in the evening, and she's wearing yesterday's skinny jeans and one of Zari's hoodies. Her walk is slow and a little stiff, like she just woke up. 

"How long were her nails?" Charlie asks. 

Kara rolls her eyes. "That doesn't mean anything, femmes can fuck too." 

"Short, then," Charlie says. She leans over the back of the couch between them both, opens her mouth to receive Zari feeding her a bite of her slice. 

Kara feels her ears go hot. They were, and Kara remembers noticing it at the time but Charlie's tone of voice makes her really think about it. Her brain supplies a mental image of three of Andrea's fingers held together, sliding somewhere slick and warm and - 

Kara's phone buzzes against her ass, taking her thoughts away from the sudden turn into inappropriate fantasy. She lifts her hips to fish it out of her pocket and glances at the screen. Someone's calling her, Unknown Number flashing across the screen. She rolls her eyes. "Probably just another scam call. Good news, guys, I've won a fake cruise," she says, taps the button to send it to voicemail. 

Zari rolls her eyes. "Ugh, I hate those. Insult to injury." 

"Seriously," Charlie says. She's wedged herself onto the couch, straddling Zari's waist on the side opposite Kara. One of her feet is squashed between Zari's back and the back of the couch, touching Kara's hip, and other is draped around Zari's lap. "I still think you should get her number, though." 

Kara feels jittery nerves start to flutter in her belly at the thought. It's not about - Lena's not scary, she knows it'd be okay. But she likes Andrea in a way that she wants to hold close to her chest and having to tell someone else before she even knows if Andrea likes her back just feels so _vulnerable_. "I bet she doesn't even like me that much. We barely have anything in common." 

"Didn't you say she's the only person you've ever met that appreciates that zombie game you like on the same level as you do?" 

Kara flips halfway over, turning her head to look at Charlie. "How do you know that?" 

Charlie shrugs. "I was trying to nap in Z's room, and your soliloquy was not quiet." 

Kara huffs. "It's not a weird zombie game, it's _Zombie Apocalypse 5_ , the triumphant sequel to the instant classic -"

" _Zombie Apocalypse 4_ ," Charlie says, "We know."

"It's a good game!" 

Charlie rolls her eyes. "It's kind of not, but the important thing is that it makes you happy." 

Kara sticks her tongue out at Charlie, at a loss for words. Charlie just grins at her. Zari, stuck between them, puts her hands out to break eye contact. They both look up. "Look, I've seen the terrible games you love, Charlie. What about that pigeon game?"

"Hey," she says. "I told you I bought _Pigeon Romance Love Story_ as a joke." 

Zari smiles, a little wickedly. "A joke that you played through until you unlocked every trophy and achievement?" 

Kara bursts into giggles, content to watch as Zari and Charlie bicker gently beside her. It loosens up that worry under her ribs. Maybe it doesn't matter if she forgot to get Andrea's number. And if it does, she can always text Lena in the morning. 

+

It's only later that night, when Kara's on her own in bed, that she remembers her missed call. Charlie and Zari have retired to Zari's room, and Kara doesn't begrudge them fucking but they're _so loud._ Somewhere between the third and fourth breathy scream of _yes, yes Charlie_ , Kara reaches for her headphones. 

There's one unplayed voicemail, and out of curiosity, she taps the message. 

The person on the other end takes a breath, and then Andrea's voice is filling Kara's ears, "Hey Kara, it's Andrea. I hope it's okay that I'm calling, I talked to Lena and she had your number -" 

Kara drops her phone. It bounces onto her lap, then tumbles past her knees, off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. The weight of it pulls her headphones out of the jack, the message suddenly cutting short as the audio input disappears. "Fuck," Kara whispers under her breath. "Fuckfuck _fuck._ " 

(From two rooms away, Zari moans an answering _Fuck me, fuck me harder_.) 

Kara fumbles, almost falls off the bed herself in her rush to put her headphones back on and check that her phone is okay. Andrea called her. Andrea found her number and called her and that definitely-probably means they went on a date yesterday and she needs to hear that voicemail. She needs it with an urgency that sends little hums of anxiety all the way from her fingertips to her toes. She checks her phone screen - no cracks - and opens her voicemail. The message is still there, ready to replay. "Fuck me," Kara sighs in relief. 

Zari's about to shout another volley of _fuck_ s from her room, Kara can tell from the pitch of her whimpers; she puts her headphones back on. Andrea's voice is so warm, Kara can almost picture the way she would have smiled as she spoke. "- I had a really great time with you today. And I was wondering if you'd like to spend some more time together and -" here she pauses. Kara can hear her inhale again, as if she's a little nervous. "I really want to take you on a date. If you'd like to go out with me. I'm free this Wednesday after work." 

There's a callback number after that, and it takes Kara three more listens before she can calm down enough to write it out. Her whole body feels like it's on fire. She starts the music player on her phone, lets the noise drown out the sound of Zari's orgasm, and for the first time the volume of it doesn't bother her. Andrea called her. Andrea called her and asked her out and she likes girls and she likes _Kara_ and she wants to go on a date. 

As soon as Charlie and Zari stop fucking, Kara's going to call her back. 

\+ 

By the time Charlie and Zari stop having sex it's well after midnight, so Kara settles for texting the next morning. 

Andrea doesn't text back. 

And it's fine. Kara's totally fine about it. She's fine while she makes her coffee, and she's fine while she sits down at her desk and gets settled to write her Gamercon recap article. It's completely fine. Just a typical, normal incredibly romantic Sunday with a beautiful unicorn stranger who shares all of Kara's interests and won't text her back. She's definitely, one hundred percent fine about it. 

It takes her a little while to actually start working - not because she's daydreaming about Andrea. But it is difficult to separate the memories of the con itself from the smell of Andrea's hair, or the way she grinned when they walked past the booth with the really good _Murder Cowboys 2_ fanart. Whenever she has trouble focusing she tends to fidget; something about being in a precarious position helps her think a little better. Today is no exception. When her words start to come it's because she's twisted into a pretzel, one leg up on the desk and the other tucked under her, with her cup of coffee balanced on her knee. She's got her wireless keyboard in her lap, wedged between her chest and her thigh. It's definitely not - what's the word Alex loves - _ergonomic._ It's probably the precise opposite of ergonomic. 

Kara's phone buzzes with a text alert. She looks down. There's a message there, and it starts with _hey it's Andrea_. Kara's twitches her leg trying to reach for her phone and she nearly kicks herself backward onto the floor. She scrambles, catches herself on the desk with one hand and keeps her coffee cup from falling with the other. She's lucky that her keyboard is the only casualty, slipping out of her lap and down the short distance to the floor with a gentle clack. She unlocks her phone with shaky fingers. 

_Hey, it's Andrea. I'm glad you got my voicemail! I was worried you'd think it was too much, calling you the same day and everything but I had a really great time with you and I wanted you to know that. :)_

Kara reads it and rereads it another three times. It feels like it's hard to process the words. Her brain is stuck in an excitement loop, too high on _hey it's Andrea_ to get the rest of the words to stick without effort. Before she can come up with a reply, a second message from Andrea comes through: _If Wednesday works I can meet you after work? Where do you want to go?_

Kara's fingers seem to act independently of her brain. Before she can really get into overthinking, her body is already answering back. 

_Do you know Al's Bar_ she types. _It used to be sort of divey but they turned it into like a barcade thing; the pinball machines are really great._

Her fingers hit send, and Kara takes a sharp breath as the overthinking starts to kick in. Because Andrea loves gaming, and Kara _knows_ that she'll think the _Wizard of Oz_ pinball machine at Al's is as hilarious as Kara finds it. But Andrea's also fancy, and she has a real actual fancy job and maybe she doesn't want to play pinball and eat nachos in Kara's favourite bar with the stickiest floors in town. Maybe she wants to go to a real restaurant and eat fancy food and Kara can do that, she's got at least two non-flannel button-downs and she can do fancy if Andrea needs her to. Maybe Kara should send another text. Maybe she should take it back; Al's was a stupid idea to begin with and - 

Her phone buzzes. Andrea sends back a winking face emoji, and a kissing face emoji after that. _You had me at pinball_ , she writes. _That sounds perfect._

+

The rest of Monday passes in a blur. Kara remembers that she wrote her article, knows that she submitted it and got feedback from her editor and rolled her eyes and took it without complaint. 

She knows that Tuesday happened, but it's similarly fuzzy. She remembers that she made toaster waffles for breakfast, because Andrea texted her at 7am to ask what she was doing and she answered: _making toaster waffles._ She knows that she did work, and that Zari beat her in five consecutive rounds of pvp _Murder Cowboys_ because Kara was so distracted thinking about Wednesday that she forgot how to use the weapons controls. 

+

The thing is, now that it's Wednesday and Kara's agreed to go with Andrea on a date, she has to deal with the fact that she has a date. With Andrea. Who is cool and smart and pretty and funny and probably expects Kara to be at least two of those adjectives herself. 

Kara has a date with Andrea and she has to wear clothes to it which means she has to _pick_ clothes to wear and it's come to her attention that she's just - not qualified. All of her clothes are stupid looking and she has to leave in an hour and a half, how did she not realize how stupid all of her clothes were until just now. 

"Zari," she says, bursting into the living room. She's wearing a bra and her jeans are _on,_ just unbuttoned at the fly, so: basically dressed. "I'm having a personal crisis." 

Zari leans over the back of the couch, catches sight of Kara's mostly-bare chest and winces. "Do you have to have a personal crisis with your boobs just hanging out like that?" 

There's a rustle from the direction of Zari's lap, and soon after that, Charlie's head appears. Kara crosses her arms over her chest, walks back to her bedroom to find the first shirt within reach: classic Mario. "Better?"

Zari nods. "Much." 

"All of my clothes are dumb. What am I supposed to even wear to a date, nothing I own looks even remotely good." 

"I don't think it matters," Zari says. "Didn't you meet cute while you were wearing some bullshit gamer logo t-shirt?" 

"The Konami Code is _not_ gamer bullshit it's _classic._ "

Zari shrugs but tilts her head in acknowledgement. "Fair. My point is, she already knows what you're about. Just wear whatever." 

Charlie nods, sagely. "But make sure you look hot." 

"How do I do that?"

Charlie shrugs. "Dunno. Your ass is your best feature, what do you have that shows it off?" 

Kara rolls her eyes. "I don't know, clothes?" 

"Do you have anything where your butt hangs out of it? Because if you do, you should wear that." 

"So, I should wear a gamer t-shirt and, what. Jeans with the ass cut out of them like some sort of upside-down _Mean Girls_ reference?" 

Charlie shrugs. "It'd work on me," she says. 

Zari rubs Charlie's shoulder. "What makes you feel comfortable?" 

Kara retreats a few feet back to sit down on her bed, crushing a pile of rejected sweaters and shirts in the process. "Nothing makes me feel comfortable, I'm going on a date with basically the holy grail of women, have you not been listening?" 

Zari rolls her eyes. "Come on." 

Kara takes a breath. She is being dramatic, of course she is. She just wants this to go well so _much_ and yes blah blah if Andrea likes her it won't matter what she wears but - whatever. She still wants to wear something that makes her look _good._

She's busy trying to calm herself down, enough that she doesn't notice Zari getting up and crossing the room to sit with her on the bed. She sits once, makes a face and moves a stack of clothes-on-hangers out of the way, sits again. "Hey," Zari says. "You're a catch. And she called you, remember?" 

"Yeah, that's true." 

"She called you and asked you out, she _likes_ you. And if she doesn't like you because you wear the wrong shirt, she's a jerk with bad taste and I don't want her dating my friend if that's how she's going to be." 

"She's _really_ pretty," Kara says. "I'd date her even if she was a jerk with bad taste." 

"Maybe once or twice," Zari says. "But not for real." 

Kara sighs. "You're right. I know you're right. She just - ugh, I _really_ like her, feelings are hard." 

"They are hard." 

"It really doesn't matter?" Kara says. 

Zari shakes her head. "It doesn't." She looks over Kara's shoulder, reaches across the bed to lift up two of Kara's favourite flannel button-down shirts. "But if you want my advice, you should wear one of these." 

+

Kara goes to Al's. She's wearing clothes, an important achievement since deciding on an outfit took her the better part of an hour. Her instincts told her to go with the red flannel but Zari and Charlie both insisted that the blue-and-black flannel was better. They were right, Kara knows they were, but she's still fidgety, plucking at the sleeves and smoothing the hem to make sure it looks just right. 

_I'm running late_ , Andrea had texted as Kara got on the bus to meet her here. _Please don't hate me. I'm going to come straight from work I can't wait for pinball, I'm so so sorry._ The idea of it had made Kara's stomach twist a little, amping up her nerves. But then Andrea followed her text with three separate selfies of herself making increasingly dramatic sad faces, and - she just looked so pretty. Kara couldn't stay upset. 

She's getting updates now, practically down to the minute as Andrea gets her coat and leaves her office and gets into a taxi to make up the lost time. 

_It's okay_ Kara texts back eventually. _Slow down. I'll still be here._

_I just don't want to be rude. It's important to me that you know that I like you._

_What, is punctuality one of your ~love languages_

There's a short pause, then Andrea replies, _Maybe. ;)_

Kara cradles her phone in her hands, not even sure what to say to that. Andrea just keeps catching Kara by surprise like this. Kara's not used to - being pursued, by someone who likes her this openly. _You're cute_ , is what Kara actually texts back. _I can't wait to see you._

Kara gets a table inside, the tall kind with barstools, just big enough for two. It's in the corner, next to the _Wizard of Oz_ machine and tucked away from the crowded areas, but still visible from the door. She fiddles with her phone, resists the urge to send Zari panic-texts and tries to focus on her breathing. It's going to be okay. She's going to meet Andrea, and they're going to have a nice date and she's not going to freak out because it's not a big deal. She's a cool person who definitely goes on dates all the time, so - this isn't a big deal. She's chill about it. 

Her phone buzzes with a text alert and it startles Kara so badly that she nearly falls off her chair. It's Andrea. _Here._

_I got us a table at the back!_

Kara looks up just in time to see Andrea walk into the bar. She's clearly come from work and - wow, does Kara ever want to work there. She's business casual, heels and a pencil skirt and a silk blouse that comes up to Andrea's throat and has a million tiny buttons cascading down the front for interest. She's carrying a tiny purse, just big enough for a phone and keys but otherwise mostly decorative. It's so _different_. The Andrea that Kara met before was fancy-casual, put together but dressed down and relaxed. This Andrea is confident, all business, totally out of place and overdressed for a dive barcade on a weeknight. 

She frowns, looking around. She hasn't placed Kara yet, and Kara gets a chance to see Andrea's nervous tells - the way she reaches into her purse to double-check her phone, the way she worries at her lower lip with her teeth. Andrea pauses, reading Kara's text, and looks up again. There's a moment of confusion, then a slow smile as she places Kara in her seat at the back. 

Kara fidgets with the hem of her shirt, smooths it down as she stands up. She doesn't know how to greet her. Doesn't know if they shake hands or kiss or bow or whatever but Andrea solves the problem but coming in for a quick, friendly hug as soon as they meet. "Kara," she says, her voice soft against Kara's shoulder. She's still so good at saying Kara's name. Something about the way it curls around the inside of her mouth makes Kara shaky all over. "I'm so sorry for running late." 

"Oh," Kara says. Andrea's hair still smells so good, even after a long day at the office and a hurried cab right over. Kara remembers to hug Andrea back, reaches up and pats the buttery-soft silk of her blouse. "Oh, it's - don't worry about it. It's fine." 

They break apart, Andrea stepping back from the hug after the appropriate amount of time and sliding onto her barstool. "Let me make it up to you," she says. "Snacks are my treat." 

Kara shakes her head. "No, no way. You already bought me dinner." 

Andrea bites her lip, narrows her eyes. "You drive a hard bargain," she says. There's something about the way she focuses all of her attention on Kara that makes her stomach do that flipping thing. "Games, then?"   
"Acceptable." 

Andrea reaches across the table, hand extended. Kara takes it. "Deal," Andrea says. 

They order nachos, greasy and cheesy with sour cream and every topping on the menu. Kara watches Andrea eat with her hands, notices the delicate shape of her fingers and the way she holds each melty, oily bite with her hand splayed just so and tries not to have too many inappropriate thoughts. Kara's in deep, and she knows it because she's having thoughts like _that cheese grease makes her fingers look really sexy_ and _she eats nachos really delicately, like a beautiful princess._

She doesn't know how she manages to sound cool, and keep those thoughts as inside thoughts, but she does. She makes jokes and Andrea laughs, and Andrea makes jokes and they make little fireworks pop behind Kara's ribs, warming her from the inside out. 

"It's just - weird, you know?" Andrea's hands are wrapped around the base of her beer glass, cradling it gently as she speaks. "I love my job but it's like - if I do this job, everyone just assumes that I'm a certain type of person and that in my spare time I like to do certain types of things." 

Kara nods. She's felt this too; as much as her job getting paid by the article is different from Andrea's life it's also very much the same. "And you feel like you have to hide it, almost." 

Andrea lights up. Her smile, the way her eyes go wide with delight and recognition at being understood - Kara can't get enough of it. "Exactly! I don't want to hide who I am, but at work sometimes it's just -"

"Easier," Kara finishes. "If you pretend to be who they think you are." 

Andrea rolls her eyes. "It's so - like. If I wanted to be interested in golf and overpriced wine, I would be working in golf and overpriced wine." 

Kara giggles, directly into her beer. Andrea has a knack for getting her to do that. Every joke, every knowing little smile turns Kara soft and bashful. "Work you is so - different," she says. "Not what I expected." 

Andrea gets a look, then. Almost self-consciously, her hand comes up to smooth the front of her blouse, adjust the space where it's tucked into her skirt. "Is it alright?" she says. 

"I like it," Kara says. "I like knowing the different sides of you." 

It comes out heavier than she means, a little more flirtatious. What Kara means is: she likes getting to know who Andrea is at work as well as who she is on the weekends. What it sounds like, with Kara's voice dropping lower, is that maybe that's a euphemism for something much, much more sexual than Kara intended. Andrea smiles. She does this thing, shifts her weight and suddenly her barstool is beside Kara's and they're sitting on the same side of the table. 

"Can I tell you a secret?" Andrea asks. She's smiling with her eyes, so close that if Kara breathes in deep all she gets is floral shampoo and - _Andrea._ Kara feels like Andrea's just reached into her chest and squeezed; her heart stutters a little. 

Kara nods. 

Andrea scoots her barstool even closer, so that she and Kara are elbow-to-elbow. She has to; the bar is starting to get busy and just loud enough that normal speaking volume starts to get lost in the noise. "I wish I'd kissed you," she says. "After our dinner that first time." 

The room goes silent for a moment. Well - no. It doesn't actually go silent, the bar is just as loud and boisterous as it was before Andrea told Kara that she wishes they'd kissed. But Kara's brain filters it all away, ignores everything but the fact that Andrea wants to kiss her and the way Andrea's breath is hot against her ear and the fact that Andrea's thigh is touching her thigh as she leans into Kara's body to speak. Butterflies, the ones that had finally started to settle, spring to life full force in Kara's stomach. 

Andrea leans back. 

Kara's aware that Andrea's watching her. That she has to do something, has to stop being frozen and dreamy and overwhelmed by the idea of kissing someone like Andrea because _Andrea wants to kiss her back._ Kara manages a blink. Then another, then she takes a breath and concentrates as hard as she can on speaking in a voice that's even and clear and loud enough for Andrea to understand her. "Me too," Kara says. "A lot." 

Kara watches as Andrea's expression shifts from searching to slow delight. There's an intensity to her, a focus that starts with the way she meets Kara's eyes and ends with her gaze dropping down to Kara's mouth. "Can I kiss you now?" Andrea asks. 

"Yes, please."

Andrea's fingertips find a space on the bottom of Kara's chin. It's just her index finger at first, tracing the angle of Kara's jaw upward to the little notch where it meets her ear. Then the other fingers join in, curling under Kara's chin. It's not so much a pull as a pressure: Andrea's index finger pushes softly against the corner of her jaw and it urges Kara's whole head forward. Kara allows herself to be guided to the very best place in the universe, the warm haven of Andrea's mouth. 

Andrea's lips are even softer than Kara thought they would be. They meet with Kara's with feather-lightness at first, a brush of contact that's somehow barely kissing at all and also the most intimate thing Kara's ever experienced. Kara feels her own breath hitch, a stuttering inhale followed by a soft, slow exhale as something in her chest expands and blooms. She's still so nervous, so awestruck by the _Andrea_ ness of Andrea's kiss, but the closeness makes her bold enough to lean in and kiss again. 

Their second kiss - or, perhaps, the second half of their first kiss - is more decisive. Kara makes a point of pressing her mouth against Andrea's, firmly but not forcefully. As they meet, that expanding feeling gets more and more intense, sending frissons of delighted Andrea-kissing feeling down to her fingertips, her toes. 

Kara kisses until she has to stop to breathe. She pulls away with effort, separates herself from Andrea's warm, inviting mouth. Andrea is stunning. From this close up, Kara can really drink in every detail and there's just so much to appreciate. 

Kara starts to speak before her brain has really caught up to what's happening, blurts out, "Thank you."

It's not her most articulate moment. 

Kara takes a breath, braces for the surge of embarrassment and starts to wince at herself before Andrea lets out a soft, indulgent giggle. "You're welcome," Andrea says, leans in to press a soft peck to the corner of Kara's mouth. 

Kara wants, more than anything, to kiss Andrea again. Maybe ten to forty more times. But they're in the middle of Al's Bar, and it's busy but it's not so busy that they'll go unnoticed if they start necking on one of the high tops. "Games?" Kara says. 

Andrea blinks, as though she'd maybe also forgotten where they were. "Yes," she says. "Definitely games."

Kara slides off of her chair and pulls Andrea with her. "My favourite machine is free, come on." 

They play pinball. They play so many games of pinball, because Kara is good - especially at the _Wizard of Oz_ machine - but Andrea is a quick study and very, very competitive. She's the type of person who bites her lower lip when she's really concentrating, gets into the movements with her whole body even though it doesn't matter at all. 

Kara files that away for - later. For when it's important that she remember the way Andrea looked, deeply focused, lower lip caught between her teeth. It's distracting, and Kara's already so distracted because Andrea is playing hardcore arcade games in a pencil skirt and heels and they _kissed_ and this is just - Kara's had fantasy dreams like this. More than once. 

"There!" Andrea says. She was playing, bent down over the machine but now she stands up and taps the top of it triumphantly. 

It's an actual high score; just below the one marked _KD_. Kara whistles. "Almost as good as my high score, very nice." 

Andrea rolls her eyes. "You're just being competitive because I beat you at _Zombie Apocalypse_."

"Allegedly."

Andrea rolls her eyes, nudges Kara in the ribs. "The scores don't lie," she says. 

Kara feels her cheeks go hot. "But it was a _demo._ I maintain that if we had more than ten minutes to play -"

"- not my fault I'm a quick study -"

They both pause, realize they're talking over each other. Kara smiles first, and instead of arguing, Andrea smiles back. "Do you want to make this interesting?" she asks. 

There's this way that Andrea's eyebrow quirks, a beat on the word _interesting_ that hits Kara low in her belly. When Kara speaks, it comes out a little stuttering and breathless. "Interesting how?" 

Andrea hands Kara a game token. "Beat my high score and I'll give you another kiss." 

Kara's fingers are shaky as she accepts, takes the token between two fingers. "Deal." 

Kara's heart is in her throat as she inserts the token, pulls the knob back to start the first ball. She hasn't been this nervous since Al hosted that pinball tournament, the one where the prize was free wings for a month. She takes a breath, and releases. 

She knows this game. She knows the levels of it, the secret moves to get the game to light up like a rainbow and the trick to hitting the little witch character and getting the critical score bonus. She knows it and she knows that she can do this, but Andrea's so close. Her arm is draped around Kara's waist, her body warm against Kara's side, and it's making her jittery. She fumbles her first ball, misses a key flip and has to start over. 

"Come on," Andrea whispers, right into her ear. "I know you can do it." 

Kara tries to take another deep breath. The air stutters in her lungs, she has to exhale and try again and really focus on the fact that's making her breath catch: Andrea wants her to win. _Andrea wants to kiss her again._

Her second ball she gets the light-up rainbow, the bonus for hitting the witch, the little sound effect for hitting the cowardly lion marker that's always her favourite. She doesn't look at the score. She knows she's close, knows she's almost at Andrea's score within a few thousand points but she doesn't need to get too confident. She plays her way through the third ball, then the bonus round, and when she looks up the display is flashing _new high score_ and Andrea's arms are around her waist and - oh. Oh, she's _done it._

The first thing she feels isn't excitement but relief. Kara's just - Andrea's got her. Kara's smitten. Andrea is just too beautiful, too confident and kissable, for Kara to want anything but to kiss her over and over again. She has to shake off that feeling, find the part of her that's a little bit obnoxious about winning anything to grin lopsided at Andrea and say, "See? Piece of cake."   
Andrea's hand is fisted in Kara's shirt and she's suddenly very, very close. 

"I knew you could do it," she says. It's supposed to be a joke, sort of teasing around the edges but it comes out earnest and serious. Andrea's speaking directly to Kara's mouth; there's no question about what she's this close for. 

Kara turns - or maybe Andrea turns her, it's hard to tell. She knows that one minute she's hitting the flippers to enter her initials and claim her high score, and the next her back is pressed against the machine and Andrea's arms are wrapped around her. This kiss is deeper than the first and the second. It's Andrea kissing with her body, pressing soft points of contact at Kara's chest-belly-hips-thighs and it's an entirely different kissing experience. It's a kiss that makes Kara think about all of the other parts of Andrea's body, about what she may or may not be open to doing to them. 

(Hypothetically. If Andrea was interested and provided enthusiastic consent.)

"Wow," Andrea breathes into Kara's mouth, and Kara suddenly forgets all about the way the knob of the pinball machine is pressing a dent into her ass. "You're so good at pinball." 

Kara rolls her eyes. "Of course I am," she says. 

"I have this VR gaming setup at home, I bet you'd be really good at that, too." 

"I haven't played a lot of VR before," Kara says. She's taking it literally, trying her hardest to hear Andrea's words at face value and not think about how good it feels to have Andrea's tits pressed against her chest. 

"I could show you," Andrea says. "If you want to come over." 

Andrea leans back. Her arms are still wrapped around Kara's waist, and there's a look in her eyes like she doesn't want to play video games even a little and that's - yeah. Kara might be into that. 

"Sure," Kara says. "If you have time tonight." 

Andrea grins. "I think I can make it work."


	3. it's dangerous to go alone! take this

They kiss again in the lobby of Andrea's apartment building. They're waiting for the elevator, and nobody's around and Andrea's hand is holding Kara's and Kara just can't resist. She tugs her hand forward. The movement pulls Andrea's arm, makes her turn to face Kara and there must be something about the way Kara is looking at her because as soon as they make eye contact Andrea's expression shifts into an eager smile. 

"Oh," Andrea starts to say. Kara leans into Andrea's personal space, angles her mouth upward to accept a kiss. The rest of Andrea's words get lost as they crash together. 

Kara's whole body reacts to the feel of Andrea's mouth. She's so - she just wants this. It hasn't been _that_ long for Kara but it's been long enough that she misses sex, and Andrea in Kara's arms feels like the holy grail of beautiful women Kara could be kissing. She's soft and she smells so good this close up and Kara doesn't care if they go up to Andrea's apartment and actually look at her gaming setup. Kara doesn't care that she's getting Andrea's lipstick smeared across the corners of her mouth again. Kissing Andrea like this is more than worth it. 

Andrea is the one to break them apart. Kara's so deep in the kiss that she's almost disoriented when it stops. "Hey," she whimpers, without thinking. 

She's still blinking, trying to bring her mind back to the present, when Andrea points to the elevator doors, now open. "Our ride is here," she says. There's a teasing note to her voice, affectionate and a little indulgent. 

"Oh," Kara says.

Andrea hits the button for her floor: 19. Kara wonders if they have enough time to kiss again, starts to ask but by the time she's turned to look at Andrea she's being pulled into her. Andrea leans back against the elevator wall and holds Kara close to her and her mouth is so soft and welcoming that Kara can't possibly hold back. 

They kiss until floor 17, pull away just as the door opens to an elderly woman and her little dog. She enters, hits the button for the lobby but seems content to ride with them the rest of the way up. Andrea catches Kara's eye, swipes her thumb against the corner of her own mouth as a silent signal. Kara swipes the back of her hand across her mouth and it comes away pinkish-taupe and shimmery. 

Andrea smiles at her, biting her lip to hold back a giggle. Kara feels so brave, so elated. This date is going so well, Andrea's so happy and easy to kiss and they're going up to Andrea's apartment and Kara's buzzing with excitement, down to the tips of her toes. She sticks her tongue out at Andrea in reply. 

The display at the top of the elevator flashes the number nineteen. Andrea takes Kara by the hand. "Have a good night!" Andrea says politely to the woman and her dog, voice even and bright like she's just come home from a day at the office and not at all like she had her tongue inside Kara's mouth just minutes ago. 

"Good night," the woman replies. Or maybe she doesn't; Kara's having trouble noticing much aside from the fact that she's in the hallway outside Andrea's apartment and Andrea's hand is holding hers. 

Andrea leads Kara down the hall. Kara follows, takes a few steps before Andrea stops short. It has the effect of tripping Kara up: she fumbles over her own feet and knocks into Andrea, grabbing at Andrea's upper arms to stabilize herself. "Oh!" Kara says. She's trying to keep her voice soft so that they don't bother Andrea's neighbours, but her surprise registers anyway. "Is everything okay?" 

Andrea's practically holding her. Kara's stumble puts them chest-to-chest and rather than righting them, Andrea reacts by hugging Kara closer. Kara looks up. They're almost mouth-to-mouth and Andrea's lips remain infinitely kissable. Kara watches as those lips curl into a wicked smile. "Gotcha," Andrea says. 

"Got me how," Kara starts. The first syllable makes it out but the last few get swallowed by Andrea's open mouth and _oh._ Andrea got her after all. 

Andrea's kisses are shifting now, less thank-you-for-the-nachos and more how-do-you-like-your-eggs and it's intoxicating. Kara hasn't been kissed like this in longer than she'd like and her body is reacting to the feel of it so readily that she almost doesn't know what to do. The soft heat of Andrea's mouth is starting to stir feelings between Kara's legs now, she's throbbing and eager and when her thighs press together she gets that little frisson of sensation that tells her she's _wet_. 

Andrea is the one to break the kiss first. She starts smiling, kisses through it at first but after a little while it's too wide for her to really keep kissing any longer. "I thought we were going to my apartment?" she says, her voice a teasing question. 

"You started it," Kara replies. 

"Hey," Andrea says. Kara can feel the word; the soft exhale a little ticklish against her mouth. "You're the one who kissed me back." 

Andrea turns away and reaches into her purse for her keys. Kara's clit throbs almost in protest, a reaction to the lack of contact and also to the little wicked edge to Andrea's smile as she unlocks her apartment door. The lock turns with a gentle click, and the door opens to - Kara doesn't even know. It's an apartment, probably, and it has furniture in it she's pretty sure but none of it registers because all she can think about is the eager, gleam in Andrea's eyes as she says, "Would you like to come in?" 

Kara blinks; she has to focus to get her feet to move without stumbling to follow Andrea inside. 

Andrea closes the door behind them. Kara turns to look at her, Andrea turns to face Kara and her back is to the door and it's just too tempting. Kara takes a step forward and Andrea takes a step back and between them they end with Andrea pinned to the door, Kara pinned to her front and determined to kiss her breathless. 

They kiss there for longer than they did in the lobby, or the elevator, or the hallway just outside. Now that they're truly alone, the tone of their kissing shifts until it's much more firmly in the realm of _making out._ This time when Kara leans into Andrea, she feels Andrea's thighs part just a little and a space appears for Kara to work her knee in between Andrea's.

Andrea's mouth gets a little more pliant, and when Kara works her tongue just the right way she feels Andrea's knees part a little farther. Kara leans into it, wiggles her leg against the hem of Andrea's pencil skirt until it hikes up and their legs slot together: Kara's upper thigh resting at the apex between Andrea's. They come together with a gentle thud and Andrea's reaction is reflexive, full body. Her hips cant down against Kara's thigh and she moans into Kara's mouth, shamelessly amorous. 

"So, did you want to show me your hardware?" Kara asks. She has to lean back to get a word in; she's careful to do it from the upper body to keep their hips locked tight. 

Andrea blinks. Her eyes are moving slowly; she's more than a little kiss-stunned and Kara can't help but feel a thrill of pride at the sight of her. She did that. Her mouth did that. "My what?" 

"Your VR setup," Kara mumbles, directly into Andrea's mouth as she moves in for one more kiss. "I thought you wanted to show me." 

"You don't seem like you're very interested in it," Andrea says. Her tongue darts out to lap at Kara's bottom lip, soft and warm and wet. Kara can't stop thinking about what Andrea's tongue would feel like on her clit. "Unless I'm quite mistaken." 

"I don't know," Kara says. "You just seemed so excited before." 

Andrea's hands are on Kara's hips. She moves them until they're underneath Kara's shirt. Kara's aware of every single one of Andrea's fingertips, the way they're pressing into the soft of her sides and holding her steady. "And now?" Andrea whispers. "How do I seem?" 

"Like maybe you want to show me something else," Kara mumbles. 

Andrea smiles. She's too close for Kara to see it; Kara knows she's smiled because she can feel Andrea's mouth curve against her own. "What else would I have to show you?" she asks. 

She's pushing, trying to find Kara's limit. It's here. This is the point in dirty talk where Kara starts to falter, and she can feel her cheeks heating up. Kara wants Andrea to show her entire body, wants to see what Andrea keeps underneath that fancy blouse and pencil skirt so badly that she's aching for it. She wants Andrea to show Kara what she tastes like. She wants to get lost licking into Andrea's cunt she just - oh, she _wants_. 

Kara buys herself time with a kiss, but even after that, all she can manage is, "You." 

Andrea's breath catches, she sighs and her fingers flex, digging more sharply into Kara's skin. "You'd like that?" she hisses. 

"Andrea you're so pretty," Kara says. She can feel herself losing her cool, but she's past the point of caring. Andrea is cool and attractive and Kara's so turned on it almost hurts and she just wants to touch Andrea's soft, beautiful body. "Please." 

"You're so cute," Andrea whispers. "How are you so cute all the time?" 

"I'm not cute," Kara says.

"You are," Andrea says. "I can't stop thinking about you." 

"Oh?" Kara asks. She works her hands into the silky fabric of Andrea's blouse and pulls. Untucked, the blouse spills out of Kara's hands, drapes across Kara's forearms and loose around Andrea's hips. "What do you think of me doing?" 

It's Andrea's turn to go quiet. Kara feels a little surge of - something. Comfort, maybe. It's reassuring to know that this makes Andrea feel a little off balance, too. "I don't know if I should say," Andrea murmurs. 

Kara walks her fingers up the curve of Andrea's lower back, to the waistband of her skirt. Andrea's zipper is there, so very tempting and unzippable. Kara leaves it for the moment, instead moving her hands until she finds bare skin. "Well, now you have to tell me," Kara says. "If you want." 

Andrea's hands move, relinquishing their place on Kara's sides and reaching back to cup her butt. She squeezes and pulls, urging Kara's hips closer to her own. Kara allows herself to be moved, leaning in to Andrea's embrace. Andrea turns her head, brings her mouth close to Kara's ear and whispers, "I think about you going down on me. Every night. I know we just met a few days ago but I really like you, I can't help myself." 

Andrea's words hit Kara so hard, it's difficult to stay upright. It feels like someone's just run an electrical current through Kara's side, starting at her earlobe where Andrea's voice is tickly-hot against her skin and zapping down to her now-throbbing cunt. "Oh," she says. Tries to say. It's hardly a word, more of a heavy sigh as she tries to get her bearings. "I, um. I can do that. Please. If you'd like me to." 

"Oh?" Andrea says. "You can?"

There's a playfulness to her voice that throws Kara off-balance. She seems so calm, so casually horny and Kara doesn't know how she does it. The weight of Kara's own arousal feels like a storm she has to weather, beautiful and overwhelming. "If you want." 

Andrea reaches into the space between them, and puts her hand over the fly of Kara's jeans. The denim is too thick for her to feel much, and it's maddening. She knows that Andrea's palm is right _there_ , ready to be felt as she rubs it across her fly. "Yes, but," Andrea says. Her hand is pointing down, her fingers angled in the direction of Kara's cunt and as she speaks she finds the seam that passes between Kara's legs and presses it up into Kara. "What do _you_ want?" 

Kara feels her cunt squeeze; everything's already so liquid between her legs but she feels somehow like it's even wetter. There's probably a damp spot on her underwear. For all she knows there could be a damp spot on her jeans, this is that good. She's so worked up that she can hardly cope with it. Her brain is too focused on that, on trying to figure out how to be a person and also be this turned on and handle the fact that Andrea is rubbing her off through her jeans. Her mouth takes matters into its own hands, says, "Whatever. Whatever you want to do, I just - you're so pretty." 

It's a little more honest than she'd like to be, but it seems to work for Andrea. Kara knows that because Andrea's breath catches, because her fingers flex and work that seam harder into Kara's clit and she sort of growls into Kara's ear. "What if it gets me wet to go down on you, first?" 

"Yes please," Kara sighs. "Yes, that sounds very nice." 

Andrea grips Kara's hips and applies pressure. She's not pushing Kara back but she is sort of asking permission, her hands encouraging Kara and her hips to move back from her spot pinning Andrea against the wall. "Can I show you my bedroom, then?" she says. 

Kara steps back. "Yes," she says, breathless. 

Andrea takes her by the hand. Kara sees Andrea's apartment but doesn't process it; her brain skips over the furniture and the colour scheme and zeroes in on Andrea's hand in hers. They're going to the bedroom. The bedroom has a bed in it. They're going to be on the bed together and Andrea is going to lick Kara's cunt and that's going to make Andrea wet. Kara's knows her priorities. 

"So," Kara says, once they're there. "Do you want to give me the tour?" 

Andrea grins. Her smile is wide and delighted, like it's Christmas morning and Kara's the best gift of all. "Do you want me to give you a tour?" she parrots back, teasing. 

"No."

"I thought that might be the case." Andrea nods, her hand moving to indicate Kara's - everything. "Take off your clothes." 

Kara doesn't know if she has the words to process how wonderful this is. Her whole body is buzzing, making her clumsy as she fumbles her way out of her button-down and jeans. She strips down to her tank top and underwear, looks up somewhere between stepping out of her jeans and socks and starting to take off her tank top and catches Andrea's eye. 

Andrea is giving her such a look. The desire in her eyes has such focus and intensity and it's all trained right on Kara. All _for_ Kara. Kara smiles, takes it a bit slower as she peels the hem of her tank up the length of her torso and pulls it over her head. She's not wearing _fancy_ lingerie, not by magazine standards, but she looks nice. Her bra is white lace and she's wearing her favourite briefs, the black ones with the thick white elastic at the top. She catches the way Andrea's eyes go wide at the sight of her, the way Andrea's hands rub up and down on her thighs. 

Andrea makes a point of meeting Kara's gaze, getting her attention before she reaches behind her own waist and unzips her skirt. 

Kara watches as the skirt goes from fitted and a little rumpled to loose. She watches it slide off of Andrea's hips and fall to the floor, where Andrea can step out of it. Her blouse is too long for Kara to see much, but there's a flash of black fabric at the apex of Andrea's thighs, and it's - Kara is so _fucking _horny. She's horny like the protagonist of a historical romance novel: one flash of what might possibly _maybe_ be underwear and she can hardly contain herself. __

__Andrea closes the space between them. Her hands find Kara's hips again, but this time it's her palms pressed right against Kara's skin. She thumbs at the waistband of Kara's underwear. Kara tries and fails to suppress a shiver. Kara's clit is throbbing, it's so ready to be touched and she's so _wet_ she can hardly think of anything else. _ _

__Andrea kisses her, soft and slow. "You're beautiful," she says. She ducks down to press another kiss to Kara's collarbone. "Here," she says. Then, her mouth working down to Kara's breasts, "And here."_ _

__One of her hands cups Kara through the lace of her bra, thumb running across Kara's nipple. She feels it tense instantly, electric shocks zipping down between her legs. "Andrea," Kara whispers. Her knees wobble; she's not sure how much longer she can stand when Andrea's working her up like this._ _

__"Sit down," Andrea whispers against Kara's chest. Fortunately for Kara she also guides her, steers Kara's pelvis over towards the bed and down into a seated position on the edge of the mattress. "Back up a bit," she says._ _

__Kara obeys._ _

__Andrea stands in front of Kara, legs spread apart just a little. She unbuttons her blouse herself. That's probably a good thing. The buttons are delicate, the little fabric kind with just a loop of silk to fasten them and there's basically a million of them running from Andrea's collar to the space at hip height where the front splits and flows unfastened around her body. It feels like it takes forever, each button exposing another quarter-inch of skin as Andrea works from her collar downward._ _

__Kara watches, rapt, as Andrea's shirt opens. She watches as the V of unfastened shirt shows Andrea's throat, then her chest, then the black fabric bridge at the front of her bra and then the soft skin of her belly. She doesn't squeeze her thighs together on purpose; her body does it for her as Andrea's hands and shirt fall away to reveal black panties and a black lace bra and so much naked skin. She squeezes, feels her cunt clench and flutter and before she can stop herself she lets out the softest, neediest sigh._ _

__It rests in the air for a moment, an awkward reminder of just how eager Kara is tonight._ _

__Then Andrea grins and steps down onto her knees. She settles herself there, right at the edge of the bed where Kara's cunt is at mouth level. She plucks at Kara's waistband again. "These need to come off," she says. "Can I help you?"_ _

__" _Yes_ " Kara sighs. "Yes of _course._ "_ _

__Kara lifts her hips, works her underwear off down to her thighs and Andrea helps with the rest. Kara's cunt is aching, it's been just long enough that her body is overeager, her clit throbbing just at the idea of Andrea's tongue. She wants this so much._ _

__"Come here," Andrea says. She pulls Kara's hips forward, towards her so that they're almost hanging off the edge of the bed. Kara lifts her thighs and Andrea slides herself underneath them to rest Kara's legs on her shoulders. "Is this alright?" Andrea asks._ _

__She's close enough that Kara can feel her breath, the way that the word _alright_ is almost a sigh against her cunt. Kara shivers again. "Yes," she sighs. "Please, I'm so -"_ _

__"So what?" Andrea asks. She runs her thumb across the seam of Kara's cunt, tickling the outer lips without dipping in to where Kara really needs her._ _

__"I'm so wet," Kara sighs. "I want you to do me so _much._ " _ _

__Kara hasn't used the phrase _do me_ since she was a teenager. She's too far gone to care. She hears Andrea chuckle, and then Andrea is leaning in and using her tongue to part Kara's outer lips. She delves it into the wet of her, the place where Kara's cunt is slick and drooling. Kara can feel her slick drip out of her, down her lips as Andrea's mouth moves upward. _ _

__Andrea's tongue finds Kara's clit and flicks, once. It feels electric, it feels like everything Kara's been waiting for all night, the smooth pressure of it just the right amount of firm against Kara's most sensitive spot. Kara falls onto her back, spreading herself out for Andrea's mouth._ _

__Andrea flicks her tongue out again, traces a circle around Kara's clit. It's beautiful, the perfect blend of direct and indirect contact to make Kara whimper. Her hips want to move, want to grind closer into Andrea's mouth and it's an effort to keep them still. "Oh," Kara whispers. "You're so -"_ _

__Andrea hums against her, mumbles something that Kara doesn't understand. Partly because she says it directly into Kara's cunt, and partly because as soon as she says it she starts to work at Kara's clit in earnest. The flicker of Andrea's tongue on Kara's clit is just - the best. That's all Kara can come up with. Kara hasn't been eaten out in months; her clit _missed_ this and Andrea's so, so good at it. _ _

__Andrea laps at her clit with just the right amount of pressure, winds her up and listens to the way that her tongue makes Kara whimper. She notices when she hits a spot or an angle that makes Kara's moans hit a new pitch, notices when light pressure doesn't seem to be enough anymore and she needs to switch to something firmer. She notices when Kara's sighs start to go up-up-up in timbre, the edge of her orgasm within reach. She works her tongue faster then, the pace of it the perfect kind of friction._ _

__Kara's cunt shifts from aching to something more, to something that's building deep inside her, building with every stroke of Andrea's tongue. She's close, she's so close she's almost and then suddenly she's _there_ , her orgasm hitting her bright and big and sweet. She comes hard, with a loud cry and a moan that turns into _yes yes yes_ as Andrea's tongue carries her over the edge. _ _

__Andrea keeps working, laps at her until Kara taps the bed, whispers, "Wait, wait."_ _

__"Are you good?" Andrea asks. "Did you finish?"_ _

__Kara laughs. Her voice is raw, a little hoarse from moaning as she finds the back of Andrea's head and threads her fingers into Andrea's hair. "Yes," Kara whispers. "Holy fuck of course I did, you're so good at that."_ _

__Andrea kisses Kara's thigh. Her mouth is wet - wet with _Kara_ \- and her kiss leaves a little smear of it against Kara's skin. "Thank you," she says. "I want you to feel good." _ _

__"Can I do you?" Kara asks. "I want you to feel good, too."_ _

__Andrea rubs Kara's thigh. "It's alright if you need a minute."_ _

__Kara shakes her head. She sort of can't feel her toes, she's still settling back into her body but she wants this so much that nothing else matters. She wants to make Andrea feel exactly this good in return. "I'm good," she says. "I'm good."_ _

__Andrea stands up. She moves like she's going to sit beside Kara, but Kara catches her. Now it's her turn to steer Andrea over to the bed, urging her into a position straddling Kara's lap. "Like this?" Andrea asks._ _

__"Just like this," Kara says._ _

__Andrea arranges herself so that her knees are pressed against Kara's sides. The soft cotton of her panties is resting on Kara's lower belly and Kara can feel the warmth of it, the warmth of _her._ That cunt that Andrea promised would be wet after she went down on Kara, rubbing along Kara's bare skin. _ _

__Kara reaches up. She unhooks Andrea's bra, lets it fall away first._ _

__Andrea's breasts are magnificent. They're just - everything. The shape of them, the fullness and the dark nipples tight and ready to be kissed, it's so _much._ Kara sits up. She can't just touch; she has to kiss Andrea's tits all over. They deserve it. _ _

__When she sits with Andrea in her lap her mouth is basically tit-height; it's fate._ _

__"Can I kiss you?" Kara asks. Her mouth is close enough that Andrea must be able to feel her breath when she speaks._ _

__Andrea shivers. "Yes," she says, voice breathy and soft in just the right way for Kara to feel it between her legs._ _

__Kara takes one of Andrea's nipples into her mouth. She starts slow, runs her tongue along the curve of it, learning the shape with her mouth. She hollows out her cheeks, applying the gentlest suckling pressure and listens. She's rewarded by hearing Andrea's breath catch: a sudden stop followed by a sigh._ _

__Kara uses her tongue again, runs it across one nipple, then the other. She works until Andrea's breath is coming in soft pants, until the heat of Andrea pressed against her feels a degree warmer. She runs her hand down Andrea's belly, stops just above her waistband. "Can I touch you?" she asks._ _

__Andrea whispers, "Yes."_ _

__Kara works her hand in between their bodies, cupping Andrea's mound. She angles her fingertip just where she thinks Andrea's clit might be and Andrea moans so loudly that it's almost a surprise. Her hips buck, she grinds them down against Kara's hand. The motion presses Kara's fingertips into the gusset of her panties, and - _oh._ Oh holy fuck, she's _wet._ _ _

__Kara groans a little in delight, murmurs, "You feel wet. Are you wet for me?"_ _

__Andrea moans again. "So wet," she whimpers. "Going down on you was so hot."_ _

__Kara asking, "Do you want me to touch you?"_ _

__Andrea whimpers, rolls her hips down and grinds her clit into Kara's hand. "I want you to go down on me," she says. "I want to come against your mouth."_ _

__Kara's tongue darts out, wets her lips. "Yeah," Kara says. "Yeah, okay. You should, um. Where do you want to be?"_ _

__Andrea smiles again, the eager Christmas-morning-birthday-present-best-day-ever kind. She lifts herself out of Kara's lap, slips out of her panties and arranges herself among the pillows. "Like this?" Andrea says. "Is this okay?"_ _

__All Kara can do is nod. Andrea is stretched out, naked and flushed on the bed. The covers are soft and plush and they almost seem to cradle her there, like she's emerging from a cocoon of them. Her arms are spread out and her legs sort of half-crossed so that her whole body looks like a V, an arrow that ends in the dark hair between her legs. Kara gets to kiss that. Kara gets to dive in there, nestle her tongue in between the warm-salt of her. She can't believe this is happening. "Perfect," she says._ _

__Kara leans down over Andrea's body. She kisses her mouth first, her breasts, her navel, before she ends at Andrea's mound. Andrea's legs are pressed together, shut tight, but when Kara reaches the apex of them her knees come up. There's a moment of confusion, a rearranging as Andrea plants her feet flat on the bed and Kara nestles herself between Andrea's legs and then - oh._ _

__Then Andrea's cunt is spread open and Kara's nose-to-clit with it and it's the best thing she's ever seen._ _

__Kara reaches out first. She runs her index finger along Andrea's outer lips first, feels the way that Andrea's already made them wet with her arousal. Then she slides her fingertip in, just a little. Lets it fall into the pool of slick at Andrea's entrance before she runs it up, mirroring the path Andrea's tongue took on her own body just minutes ago. She watches, rapt, as Andrea squirms. When Kara reaches her clit she can see Andrea's walls flex in time with another loud, beautiful moan._ _

__Kara leans in, lets her tongue replace her fingertip as she starts to lick Andrea's clit. Andrea is quiet until she's not; when Kara moves her tongue there's nothing but the harshness of Andrea's breathing until she does something just right. There's a spot on the edge of Andrea's clit that she loves; every pass of Kara's tongue against it is rewarded by a loud, whimpering sigh._ _

__Andrea is beautiful, she even tastes beautiful, and Kara could happily stay down here forever. She takes her time as she works her tongue in slow strokes against Andrea's clit, listening to Andrea and learning what she likes. She listens as Andrea's sighs hit a crescendo, as the little pool of slick against Kara's chin gets bigger and bigger until suddenly she goes quiet. Andrea's hips buck and she freezes, back arched for just a moment. Her orgasm overtakes her and she sinks onto the bed, collapses into shudder after shudder against Kara's mouth. She sounds so good. She sounds like honey, like a warm summer afternoon, like beating a stubborn high score without meaning to. It's the best thing Kara's ever heard, ever felt, ever tasted._ _

__"Oh," Andrea whimpers, her sighs turning into something like words. "You can stop. I'm -"_ _

__Kara takes her tongue away. Andrea doesn't need to finish her sentence._ _

__"Oh," Andrea sighs. "Oh, you."_ _

__"Me?" Kara says. She's calm enough to be able to tease, but just barely._ _

__Andrea laughs at her. "Come here," she says. "Let me hold you."_ _

__Kara crawls her way up the bedspread, allows herself to fall sideways into the soft nest of covers and Andrea's arms. Her chin is damp and when she tucks it in against Andrea's side, Andrea giggles and squirms. "You're wet," she says._ _

__"Your fault," Kara murmurs. She just feels so content right now. She's calm and a little bit daydreamy. She could stay here all night. She could stay here for a lot more nights after tonight, if Andrea would have her._ _

__Andrea hums, happy and sweet. "Your fault, too," she murmurs._ _

__"Maybe."_ _

__Andrea rolls over, pulls the duvet around herself so that in one movement her front is pressed to Kara's front and the blankets wrap around them. "Stay here tonight," she says._ _

__Kara is, for a moment, speechless. Staying here tonight feels like exactly the right thing, and she doesn't quite know how to articulate that without being too much. So instead, she says, "Of course."_ _

__She kisses the top of Andrea's head. Andrea cuddles closer in reply. "Good," she mumbles into Kara's breasts. "I like you here."_ _

__Kara likes it here, too. It feels like a wonderful beginning._ _


End file.
